The Age of Dreams
by Aqua468
Summary: Because when someone actually manages to get their hands on the infamous Strawhat Pirates, they start messing with things they shouldn't be. (De-aging fic)
1. A Battle Cry

_What in the world had I gotten myself into?_

I spared a glance down at my hands, studying the gun I had been handed. The shiny black weapon tied my stomach into knots. This was not the kind of power I wanted these hands to hold. It weighed my arms down, and not because it was heavy.

I made sure not to show my discomfort. This job was the last of my dwindling options for employment, and I couldn't afford to get fired during my first week.

 _But would I kill to keep this job?_

"Oi, newbie. You listening?" The gruff voice of my superior interrupted my thoughts.

"Y-yes sir," I cringed internally for letting my nervousness show. I attempted to swallow my guilt and quickly slung the rifle over my shoulder.

"You'd better be. Now, I need you to deliver this here crate to room 89-B," he said, pointing to a sealed wooden box. "Stay out of everybody's way, and don't damage the cargo."

"What's inside?"

"We don't pay you to ask questions," the man responded with a threatening tone. "Now get going."

Wasting no more time, I got to work. I hefted the crate up into my arms and carried it out the door and into the hall.

As I made my way towards room 89-B, wherever that was, I pondered my predicament. I may have only been there for a week, but that had been more than enough time to realize that something was up.

My first clue should've been the fact that I didn't even know who I was working for, or what they actually did. All that I did know, was that I was a guard. More of a soldier, really.

Shady, I know, but what else was I supposed to do? I'll admit, I was getting desperate.I had Bella and our three-year old daughter back home. My wife wasn't going to get better any time soon, and medication certainly wasn't very cheap. I needed this money and I knew it.

 _But would I kill to keep this job?_ Anything was worth keeping them okay.

Apparently, my fellow soldiers didn't know any more than I did. However, that did not stop rumors from floating around the still curious newer recruits. They were crazy, full of conspiracies involving illegal human experimentation and higher-ups from the government. I never necessarily thought them to be true, but then again, I didn't really know what to think.

Despite these rumors, nobody really knew what we were actually doing, much less who we were even working for.

More often than not, I've noticed, the others wore cold, guarded expressions, suggesting that they'd stopped asking questions a long time ago.

It was quite the mystery. I continued pondering as I walked down the endless hallways, seeking the box's new home.

Based on what the building looked like, I felt like it would be something close to laboratory, or maybe even a prison. It certainly had the tense and ominous atmosphere to be such a place. As much as I hated to admit it, I had no idea what was going on. It was basically one gigantic, well guarded secret.

Out of everything here that was suspicious though, the thing that unnerved me the most _by far_ were the screams. Nobody spoke of these screams, even though there was no doubt in my mind that everybody heard them.

It was not uncommon to hear faraway cries reaching out to fill the quiet rooms with their despair. I felt a pang of guilt every time the sound reached my ears, so I willed them to fade away and be forgotten. I didn't want to dwell on them, as they reminded me of everything wrong with this place. I'd be lying if I said they didn't keep me up at night.

I never liked those screams; however, there was one I never quite forgot.

On that day, as I was walking down that dark, unfamiliar hall, I heard something that scared me like nothing before. I heard something that changed my life.

It exploded out of nowhere and reverberated within the desolate halls like a battle cry.

" **DON'T YOU _DARE_ TOUCH MY NAKAMA."**

Silence.

The crate slipped from my trembling hands, and crashed to the floor.

 _What in the world had I gotten myself into?_

* * *

 **Hello there, thanks for stopping by... hope you enjoyed it. I'm not the best at writing, but at least I try.**

 **(reviews are appreciated, they make me blush)**

 **(attempts and fails to include subliminal messaging for reviews... heh)**


	2. The Monster Wakes

"Excuse me for asking sir, but are you okay?"

The soldier's voice ripped my thoughts back to reality.

Taking a second to think, I realized that my current actions could be concerning, especially when you considered my fidgeting and pacing. I suppose that this was not the collected superior that-

"S-Sir?"

"Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine," I replied airily to my concerned subordinate.

Perfectly fine indeed. After all, today was no ordinary day. Today was a day I'd been waiting years for, and that day was finally _finally_ today _._ Today was the the day, I'd finally get my hands on the infamous Strawhat crew.

And now, merely moments away, I was stuck in this white room, waiting. Anticipation gnawed me inside out as my gaze climbed up the wall latched onto the clock, ticking away without a care in the world.

 _Tick._

But time, staying true to its cruel ways, stretched on.

 _Tick._

And on.

 _Tick._

And on.

 _Tick._

The spacing between the little _tick_ seemed arrive a little late as time stretched on, each second lasting an eternity.

 _Tick._

 _Tick._

 _Tick._

 _Tick._

Right when I was sure I was going to absolutely insane, the sound of the door slamming interrupted that demented clock.

A guard stood inside the doorway, heavily gasping and out of breath. In his hands: a straw hat.

No words were needed.

Seconds later, we were swiftly navigating our way through the stark white hallways. Our brisk footfalls echoed through the facility, and it took all I had to restrain myself from breaking out into a sprint.

I gingerly held the straw hat close to my chest. _Magnificent,_ I remember musing. _To think I'm holding Monkey D. Luffy's prized possession in my very hands._

I thought back to the pirate's bounty poster with the crazy grin and the straw hat on his head. This was definitely the same hat, just a bit more battered. Just by looking at it, I could tell that this hat had seen better days. It was littered with scars and stitches. Behind each scar was a story, a story I wanted to hear.

"They nearly massacred us," the soldier responded upon questioning. "Most of the squadron is in the infirmary as we speak."

"A small sacrifice really."

"Of course, sir."

"Were any of the Strawhats injured?" I inquired.

"I-" The man gulped, as if he were trying to swallow his nervousness. "I believe that their archaeologist was shot in the shoulder with a seastone bullet. Other than a few lacerations and bruises, they're in perfectly good condition."

"See to it that they're prepared for the operation."

"Yes, sir."

A few minutes of twists and turns through the winding blank halls later, we arrived at last. Before me stood a huge bolted door, no doubt made of seastone, that looked as if it belonged inside Impel Down. It took three antagonizing minutes just for the guard to finish unlocking the intricate mechanism. The man nodded grimly, and proceeded to push open the door. I surged through the doorway, my hungry eyes searching for the pirate captain.

And there he was.

Monkey D. Luffy was laid in the center of the room, unconscious and bound to the medical table in seastone. I dared to wander closer, barely able to comprehend what I was witnessing. It was exhilarating, even though I knew that there was little to no chance he could actually wake up anytime soon.

I leaned over his face, drinking in every detail. His dark hair, the tone of his skin, the curved scar beneath his left eye, everything.

His face was at rest, which struck me as disturbingly peaceful. It was so unlike how the world portrayed the young man- angry, at war, dangerous _..._ It was impossible to imagine that this _child_ was the pirate who declared war on the world.

 _This was going to be fun,_ I thought, right before something unexpected happened. His eyes opened, which had me brimming with excitement.

...and that's about when I began to understand just why this man was worth 500 million.

"W-what? Where . . ." He croaked, his owlish eyes blinking slowly. Groggily, Luffy tried to move, not yet processing his restraints.

"Hello, Luffy."

Luffy's half-lidded eyes lazily drifted over to me. They narrowed in confusion as he formed his first coherent thought.

"Why do you have my hat?"

"My name is Dr. Degrade," I said, ignoring his question. "I'm here to help you."

"Really? Okay." He mumbled sleepily, his eyes drifting closed.

I chuckled. "You and your friends are in good hands."

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Luffy's eyes snapped open.

"My nakama. Where are they?" He demanded, no longer on the verge of sleep. He strained his neck to look around, fighting the bindings.

"They're safe."

"No, you don't understand! They're in trouble, we were fighting these guys and . . ." his sentence wandered away from him as he watched the guards wheel something past the doorway. Unfortunately, I'd carelessly left the door open in my excitement. Even more unfortunately, they were wheeling by this pirate's unconscious first mate.

"Zoro!" Luffy violently thrashed against the seastone chains. It was useless. There was _no way_ that you could just shrug off seastone when you were on enough sedative to kill a normal man.

And yet, Strawhat exceeded my expectations once more.

Defying logic, Luffy broke free of the chains. He was out of the room and sliding around the corner before I knew it, almost running into the wall. I swiftly followed, sedative already prepared in hand.

As I rounded the corner, I watched as Luffy effortlessly decimated the two guards. He reached his swordsman's side, frantically trying to wake him. Roronoa, amazingly, regained consciousness almost immediately.

 _Ah, such loyalty_ , I mused.

"Truly a touching reunion boys," I said, stepping forwards as the two oriented themselves. "But I think it's about time to end this whole fiasco." I readied my syringe, pushing the air bubbles out from the needle.

"Like hell," Zoro threatened, pulling himself to his feet.

The two pirates were no less intimidating than death itself.

At that moment, all I think was _thank goodness they're still on the sedative._ It may not have kept them under, but it was clear even to me that they weren't 100% yet. That's wasn't something I was quite

ready to see.

Without hesitation, I appeared behind the vibrantly haired swordsman. I currently had the element of surprise in my favor, but I knew that wouldn't last long against opponents of this caliber.

As if in slow motion, I watched as Zoro tensed in preparation for attack. Right before his reflexes could kick in, I jabbed the needle into his neck without a second thought.

His legs gave out beneath him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ZORO?"

I spared a glance towards Strawhat, who looked about ready to go ballistic. He stood there on front of me, heavily drugged and barely able to keep himself upright. Despite his nonthreatening circumstances, I was almost tempted to retreat a few steps. _Almost._

He had a homicidal look in his eyes. He was desperate and confused and scared and lost and _angry_ , and I knew I had the upper hand here.

And at that particular moment, I came to a conclusion: this pirate's undying loyalty to his nakama would be his downfall.

I pulled the unconscious swordsman to his feet, and put the barrel of my pistol to his skull. The message was clear to Luffy.

"Calm down," I insisted. "Move, and I'll kill your friend here."

Strawhat gritted his teeth, but complied as one of my men administered the drug.

I handed Roronoa off to a guard as I laughed at my presumed victory, a laugh that loudly flaunted my win through the usually still halls.

Strawhat's anger sparked, and he exploded forwards with murderous intent. My guards held him back back with all they had, just barely stopping him before he could reach me, his face only inches from my own.

" **DON'T YOU _DARE_ TOUCH MY NAKAMA."**

My blood ran cold as he was carried away, slowly submitting to a forced sleep.

 _Monsters,_ I thought. As would any other sane person. The people of this pirate crew were flawed. They needed to be . . . corrected. Reversed.

Rewritten.

 _This was going to be fun,_ I thought, smiling as I placed Luffy's strawhat atop of my head.

* * *

 **Contrary to popular belief, I'm still alive! *laughs nervously**

 **My apologies for my lack of updating skill, I'm going to stick with blaming school.**

 **...and yeah. Reviews are always appreciated, and I guess I'll see you next time.**

 **FAREWELL! ;)**


	3. Thunder

**Law's POV**

Everything was going wrong.

I'd say that things couldn't get any worse, but I was fairly certain that the universe would take it as a personal challenge to prove me wrong.

I stood on the deck of the Thousand Sunny under deceptively blue skies. Waves gently lapped against the side of the ship as the current pulled us along. Sunny, in response, creaked and groaned as if she were able to express her sorrow.

Sunny, as it would seem, had not been so sunny as of late. I had been accustomed to the bright ship that merrily carried her captain and crew across the terrors of the ocean. This hardly seemed to be the same ship. The lion who once proudly lead the way of adventure no longer looked able to sail to the ends of the earth. Her painted colors looked dull and boring in comparison to the past. The smile in her eyes was nowhere to be found.

This ship was just as much a part of the crew as any other Strawhat, and she was mourning the absence of her nakama.

 _Nami tore through the door of a small house atop a field of flowers._

 _Nami, who was supposed to be on Zou._

" _Nami?"_

 _Sunlight poured inside as she leaned heavily against the door frame, giving her hair the glow of fire. It fell over her shoulders in wild waves and hid her eyes as she desperately tried to catch her breath._

" _Guys," she started, right before her legs gave out._

" _Nami!" half the room cried out._

 _Miraculously, even with his injuries, Luffy managed to move across the entire room and catch Nami before she could crumple to the floor. Without a word, he carried her over to a nearby sofa and tenderly laid her down. The rest of her nakama was by her side in seconds, and being the only doctor present, so was I._

" _She's fainted," I said, kneeling down beside Nami to take her pulse. "Get some water."_

 _Usopp zipped off as I further assessed the situation. Her state of syncope was probably caused by dehydration and severe exhaustion. Judging from the dark circles beneath her eyes and the multiple poorly treated abrasions that decorated her flesh, she had been unable to rest for multiple days now._

" _Is she your nakama?" Kyros questioned Luffy softly._

 _He nodded._

 _While elevating her feet with a pillow to help restore blood flow to her brain, Nami's eyes peeked open._

 _She blinked slowly, trying to cling to consciousness. Usopp arrived with the water, which she gladly accepted with shaky hands. Everyone gave the navigator some air, quietly watching on with concern._

" _Nami," Luffy softly asked the question on everybody's mind. "What happened?"_

 _Nami's eyes snapped open, successfully shattering the calm atmosphere._

 _She gripped her captain's wrist and spoke grimly. "Luffy, we need to go. We need to get out of here. Right now," Nami said, frantically trying to pull herself up._

 _She was panicking. Just from her voice, you could tell Nami was dead serious here._

 _Luffy wouldn't let her sit up, and gently pushed her back down._

" _Nami, calm down. It's okay now, we've got you."_

" _No!" She continued struggling. "They took them! They have Chopper and Sanji and Brook!"_

" _They?" Robin inquired._

 _BOOM._

 _The wall to the left of us crumbled, and armed men flooded in. Their boots pounded against the wooden floorboards like thunder._

 _We were being ambushed._

 _And as much as I hated to admit it, our odds weren't looking so good._

 _Luffy had just toppled a warlord and saved a country from a decade of ugly lies and deception._

 _By no means was this planned, and by no means was this an easy task. Strawhatter came out of that fight a battered and bloody mess, and yet he did it anyway._

 _That wasn't even the end of our problems. Taking down Doflamingo was basically declaring war on Kaido the Beast, a fight only the insane would go looking for. (And if you haven't noticed, one of Luffy's most obvious attributes is insanity. See why I'm worried?) Including Big Mom and Blackbeard, that's a total of three emperors that he's made enemies of._

 _Luffy is unbelievably talented when it comes to attracting problems for reasons I could never hope to understand._

 _Long story short, you don't just get up and walk away after taking down a warlord. I barely knew how he was standing as it was._

 _However if there is one thing that I've learned, it's that you don't underestimate the Strawhat crew. I tried to keep that in mind as I eyed their exhausted and bandaged bodies._

 _We scrambled for our weapons._

" _Men, we must collect the Strawhat Pirates at all costs!" A bold voice ordered from the swarm of soldiers._

 _As I reached for my nodachi, a streak of green whizzed past my head and impacted an oncoming enemy. I nodded to Usopp as he ran by to join the fight._

 _Sounds of battle meshed together as they filled the ruined home._

 _Shots being fired out the the barrels of the guns, exploding towards their intended targets. The piercing metallic ping as they bounced off of Franky's chest. Swords clashing as Zoro deflected with ease. Robin's arms blooming from the enemies' chests, followed by the deep echo of bones being snapped. Shouting. My sword, arcing through the air. Blood. Screaming. Luffy's fist, bashing someone's skull into the ground._

 _The tides began to turn from our favor when Zoro doubled over, his face twisted in a grimace of pain. Sweat dripped down his face as he tried to catch his breath. I warily eyed the blood seeping through the bandages wrapped around his midsection._

 _Then, like dominoes, we came toppling down._

 _Upon noticing Zoro, Usopp was tackled in the brief moment his guard was down._

 _Robin was clipped in the shoulder with a bullet in an attempt to protect Nami's unconscious form._

 _Franky was slammed into the wall behind me, tearing down the last of the support for the roof. As a result, the ceiling crashed down onto Luffy and I. A midst the rubble raining down, a particularly sharp stone caught me on the side of my head._

 _From there on out, it was hazy. I recall in great discomfort the feeling of an unbearable weight pinning my legs to the ground, various sharp edges digging into the skin of my chest. I recall with vague awareness the copious amount of blood trickling down the left side of my face._

 _I recall watching, my eyesight murky from the simply lovely combination of pain and blood loss, as Strawhat was dug out from beneath the destruction and dragged away._

Hours later, I had come to with a screaming headache.

Kyros and Rebecca rescued me from the remains of their home, eager to do anything they could to assist those who saved their country.

Other than feeling immense pain just about everywhere, I had escaped the ordeal relatively unscathed. The samurai however, hadn't been quite as lucky. Kanjuro and Kin'emon were in no condition for travel, and wouldn't be for a while.

That left me with one ship of the Sunny variety, one green-haired Strawhat fanboy, one captured crew, and one long and vexing mission ahead of me.

Fantastic.

And so here I was on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, following Luffy's vivre card across the ocean to who knows where.

Not that I'd ever admit it, but silence of the absent crew was unsettling.

I frowned down at the charring and crumbling edges of the vivre card in the palm of my hand.

Thunder rolled on the horizon.

* * *

Luffy's POV

I couldn't get my eyes to focus. My head was foggy, and my limbs were unnaturally heavy. I felt feverish to the point where I felt like I was going to puke or something.

In a word: exhausted.

It was actually pretty annoying, especially because I was being rolled on one of those medical table thingies through these super looooooooooooooong hallways that felt like they stretched on forever. I lazily watched the passing lights on the ceiling, just kinda waiting to fade out of consciousness.

I felt like I should be angry about something, like there was something really important I should've been doing. It was right on the tip of my tongue too, but I couldn't force those thoughts through the haze of my head to become actions.

Eventually, those guys rolled me through an important looking door, and began puttering around their medical tools. I was restrained to the table with what I could only assume to be seasone.

The door opened once more, and I lazily turned my head to look. In came that crazy doctor-looking guy with the blonde hair and the purple eyes.

 _He was wearing my hat._

What was his name? Dr. Upgrade? Dr. Dentures? Probably something along those lines. . .

He nodded and the medical guys. "Are we ready begin the operation?"

"Yes, sir."

He grinned as he meandered over my direction in a way that made me want to give him a black eye. Crazy-Dentures-or-whatever dude extended his arm and rested his palm on my forhead.

"Goodbye, Monkey D. Luffy."

And then there was pain.

* * *

 **Hey guys.**

 **I'm just going to casually blame school, technological difficulties, and my utter lack of skill for writing fight scenes on the ridiculous wait. . . and yeah.**

 **Thanks for stopping by.**


	4. Red

_Law POV_

It was amusing. Under normal circumstances, this man would be anxiety inducing. He's fought next to the most wanted man in the world, Dragon the Revolutionary, battled Marine Admirals, and gained the fear and respect of countless lives across the sea. With the grisly burn marring the left of his face backed with the title of Second in Command of the Revolutionary Army, one glare from this man could send enemies sprawling.

However at the moment, he was a nervous, fidgeting mess.

"You sure it was the vivre card and not your brother complex that led you here, Sabo?"

Said blonde paused his pacing to roll his eyes at me.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure," he replied, gazing down at said paper being cradled in the palm of his hand, no doubt worrying about its burning edges. "I just didn't think I'd be needing it so soon."

Sabo had left the now sunny country of Dressrosa only days before, making his way back across the ocean to the Revolutionary base.

I imagine he must have panicked when he checked the vivre card. Sabo was painfully aware that Luffy was injured from his battle with Doflamingo, and that there was a plethora of things that could go wrong with him in that sort of condition. It would be simple to deduct that something rather distressing had, indeed, occurred. Nothing good would be able to explain why his vivre card was crumbling to ashes.

So, as it would seem, Sabo followed it to wherever his brother may have been. I happened to be doing the same. Long story short, our paths crossed.

And here we were.

"S-S-SABO SENPAI~!"

Sabo turned to see a melting puddle of madly blushing green haired fanboy.

My expression settled into a scowl at his antics.

"Bartolomeo, isn't it?"

Bart nodded vigorously, and practically started glowing when his hero's older brother spoke his name.

"I-IT'S GREAT THAT YOUR HERE!" And then, very uncharacteristically of him, his enthusiasm ebbed away, and the excitement slipped from his face.

A tense atmosphere dawned upon the Thousand Sunny.

"Law told you what happened, right?"

A moment of silence.

"They took Luffy," Sabo nodded grimly.

He turned away from us to face the oncoming storm and the restless sea, a strike of lightning flashing in the inky, clouded sky. Thunder followed in an ominous, foreboding fashion.

"And we're going to get him back."

* * *

 _Robin POV_

" _. . . the sea is vast. Someday, without any doubt, nakama who will protect you will appear! No one is born into this world to be completely alone!"_

" _. . . been a beneficial partner, but I've decided to kill you here. . ."_

" _. . . I WANT TO LIVE! TAKE ME WITH YOU! TAKE ME OUT TO SEA WITH. . ."_

" _. . .going to take a bit longer. The bullet shattered."_

" _There's no time, we're doing this now."_

" _Now? With a seastone bullet? If you operate now, she's going to die!"_

" _We'll see then, won't we?"_

Strange voices echoed through the haze of my head. Some of them were painfully recognizable, and others escaped me. It gave me the feeling that I had forgotten something important.

My first coherent thought was that it felt like I had been buried beneath an avalanche. A headache drove itself through my skull, which made it difficult to focus on anything else besides pain. Speaking of pain, my arm hurt in a way that I would describe having your arm ripped off from the shoulder.

I couldn't find the energy in me to open my eyes, so all I could really do was listen as a couple pairs of footsteps clicked into the room.

"Was the session with Dr. Degrade successful?"a voice questioned.

"Yes, but we have a different issue. The reversing her age does not change the fact that she has a seastone bullet lodged in her shoulder."

I assumed they were talking about me, considering the fact that my shoulder felt like it was being gnawed on by a seaking.

I was concerned about the topic of the conversation, but it wasn't something I was mentally awake and ready to actually think about yet.

Doctor 1 asked, "Are we going to prepare for surgery?"

"No, Doc wants us to leave it there for now," Doctor 2 replied.

 _What?_

"Why's that?"

"Degrade want's to play it safe and keep her just barely alive for now. They call her the Devil Child for a reason, you know."

I decided that I didn't like this 'Doctor Degrade', whoever he was.

"Ah, I see," said Doctor 1. "And what of the rest of them? Everyone on that pirate crew of theirs is insane, and don't even get me started on the skeleton."

Others? Pirate crew? Skeleton? This guy was the one who was insane.

"Apparently, he's still working out some of the kinks. Last I heard Dr. Degrade was still mostly concerned about whether Strawhat's going to survive it or not," Doctor 2 explained. "Physical injuries marked with strong negative emotions tend to have a hard time keeping up with the rapid change of the body."

"Oh, so you talking about Marinefo-"

The door slammed open with an echoing bang, and people clamored in, yelling in urgent tones.

"We need a blood transfusion, type F!"

"-don't forget the disinfectant, we need to- "

"Take off the seastone and-"

With discomfort, I rolled my head on its side and forced my eyes open.

Through my blurring vision, I saw a dark haired boy with a crescent scar beneath his left eye, about six or seven years old from the looks of it. Frantic medics surrounded him, doing everything they could to keep him alive.

With morbid curiosity, I wondered how that much red could fit into one little boy.

I had never seen so much blood in my life.

* * *

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	5. Lost

_That Soldier Guy from Chapter 1's POV_

What was I doing, exactly? Good question, because I hardly knew myself.

In short, probably something stupid.

Nerves gnawed on my stomach as I took nervous steps down the shadowy hall. A tense feeling seeped from the walls, which were opposite of the bright blinding white I was used to. I noticed that the deeper into the facility I trekked, the darker the atmosphere sank.

Voices echoed out from the dimly lit passageway a ways behind me, which nearly gave me a heart attack. I was about 200% certain that I _really_ wasn't supposed to be here, and was even more certain that grim consequences would follow if I got caught there.

I scrambled around the nearest corner and pressed myself against the wall, careful not to let the rifle slung over my shoulder clang against it.

I shook out of fear, and clamped my sweaty palms over my mouth to smother the sound of my breathing. I listened.

"Okay, but where's the skeleton?"

"I don't know," Another voice replied, not sounding very concerned. "But it's not like it could've gotten very far. I mean, it's not like it could've gotten up and walked away, right?"

"You didn't put on the seastone cuffs?!" The first voice exploded.

"Why would I? That guy was long dead."

"You dimwit! That was Dead Bones Brook! Degrade's going to _murder_ you!"

"What? Seriously?! You've got to be kidding me!"

The sound of their panicked footsteps faded away, and I let out the breath I'd been holding. A minute later, after regathering my wits, I continued down the maze of dusky halls.

I came across a door, and a strong one at that. Front and center, there was a peephole of some sort, no bigger than my eye. If you try and tell my that you'd be able to resist taking a look, you're lying to yourself. The curiosity was suffocating.

Of all the things that I was expecting to be in that room, it was definitely not children.

Inside that small little white room, were kids who couldn't have been older than my own daughter.

. . . I left before I did something that would cost my family their lives.

I told myself that I would never come back, let I be tempted to act. I repeated it over and over again as I returned to my bunk.

But I couldn't just leave them alone. How could I?

I could barely sleep that night because I saw those kids every time I closed my eyes. I began to hear my daughter's voice in every far away scream that reached my ears, and I had to forcibly remind myself that _she was at home, she was safe._

I returned the next night, and left repeating the same mantra.

 _I won't come back. I won't come back. I won't come back._

Once again, I came back.

There were three. Three kids who who couldn't have been older than ten were locked in that room. A long nosed kid with a head of dark hair looked to be fairing the best of the three, and seemed to have no problem helping the other two out. They might have died without his help if they felt half as bad as they looked.

Another was a frail blonde boy who looked like he was being starved. I was reminded of a scarecrow.

The last of them was a girl, smaller in stature. She had black, inky hair, and what I'd guessed to be a bullet in her shoulder.

I could've sworn that she saw me.

 _I won't come back. I won't come back._

I ventured slightly further down the hall the next time I returned, an uncomfortable mix of guilt and curiosity burning in my stomach.

I found another door. Another room. Another window I was going to regret looking through.

I tried to force my legs to move and carry me away from this precarious situation, but it was as if they were welded to the floor.

I looked.

A boy. Bright green hair. An ugly gash stretching across from his left shoulder to his right hip, blood soaking through his shirt.

A girl. Small. Tangerine hair. She held the upper part of her left shoulder like she was injured. Blood dripping between her fingers.

A- wait, was that a raccoon dog? A reindeer perhaps? It was huddled in the corner, so it was hard to tell.

I left.

 _I won't come back._

I came back yet another time, and found yet another room.

It held a monster of a man, if you could even call him man. His body was an intricate mesh of technological parts, all painted with bold and vibrant colors. Matched with the wild cyan hair and his large muscular frame, I could tell that this guy was crazy dangerous.

Or maybe just crazy, I didn't know.

Either way, the facility had definitely taken its precautions. More than likely, this guy had been sedated, which would explain the unconsciousness. On top of that and the probably unbreakable door, the thickest chains I'd ever seen held his wrists together.

 _I won't . . ._

I stood outside of the second door.

I couldn't stop myself. I was torn between wanting answers and wanting nothing to do with this conspiracy. I tried to bury these thoughts in the back of my head, but was unsuccessful in my attempt to ignore the problem. Every moment, awake or not, seemed obsessed with thinking about those kids.

Who were they?

Why were they here?

Who's the robot man?

How are they still _alive_ with injuries like that?

The most daunting question, however, was what was I going to to about it? Or more precisely, was I going to do anything at all?

I knew very well that my employers were very serious figures, and would not tolerate my current actions should they come upon that knowledge. My life was already in danger, and I won't deny that I was painfully anxious. But if I went through with it, what about the lives of my family?Was this worth putting them in danger?

And then on the other hand, if I didn't take action, would it be worth losing myself along the way?

I wanted to be the man my wife married. Bella didn't deserve a coward who ran away from he thought to be right, and neither did my daughter.

 _This is what she'd want me to do,_ I reassured myself.

I nodded, as if that would cement my wavering will. Before I would convince myself otherwise, I slid the heavy bolt away from the door and stepped inside the stark white cell. They eyed me warily, and observed with timid curiosity.

My feet carried me to the green haired boy who had eyes so intense they tore holes in my determination. I knelt down slowly on front him, and with a shaky voice, asked a question.

"Who are you?"

His head tilted ever so slightly to the left.

"And why should I tell you that?" He rasped out.

I put a trembling hand on his shoulder.

" _Please."_

This seemed to confuse him, but after a moment of silence he relented.

"Zoro."

I could've sworn that I had a heart attack.

Zoro? Green hair? I prayed that this was some sort of sick coincidence.

"Zoro? As in Roronoa Zoro?" I ventured, stammaring.

His face dipped into a scowl of distrust. "Why'd you ask for my name if you already knew it?"

I barely heard him as I backed away, leaving the boy leaning against the far wall. I stumbled out of the room, the door locking behind me. I pressed my back against the wall and slid to the floor.

With my head in my hands, I wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time about what exactly I had gotten myself into _, because that green haired boy was a pirate swordsman worth 320,000,000._

* * *

 _Brook's POV_

I was lost, but strangely enough, not in the Floridian Triangle.

However, I'll still admit that this place was still quite dark and confusing. I found myself somewhere within a labyrinth of dim halls which I opted to explore after waking up to a similarly dim room.

I couldn't say for sure how long I'd spent wandering. My estimations ranged from two to three days. I had been on that empty ship for roughly thirty years, so a few days in this maze meant nothing.

Then again, there was no way to tell. Dark days had a tendency to mesh together.

None the less, it was a strange and exciting experience. It posed to be quite the mystery, considering I had no idea how or when I had even left the triangle. Among that, there was much more that had to be explained.

For instance, I was wearing unfamiliar clothes. (Not that I was mad or anything, they were quite stylish after all.) They fit perfectly, which was uncommon for someone of my tall, slim, and bony physique.

As I pondered these things, I found a door. Beyond it, brightly lit hallways, all painted white. I stepped through without hesitation, welcoming the light. It had been a while.

Thirty years ago, I never would've thought that a little light could be so breathtaking.

However, the brief glance down was what really got my heart pounding- you know, if I still had one. A spot of shade rested on the floor, the vague shape of a man distorted by perspective, and was attached to me by the bottoms of my feet.

I had a shadow.

Realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

 _I had a shadow._

Which ultimately left me more lost than I had originally thought possible.

I couldn't tell you how long I just stood there marveling at that shadow, just letting emotions I hadn't felt for a lifetime wash over me.

Awe.

Curiosity.

Fear.

Pure, unadulterated elation.

" _Brook?"_ A voice called out in disbelief.

I whirled around to meet the voice. There were two people standing about 50 feet away. The one who had spoken was a man, probably in his twenties, who had dark hair to match the dark circles painted beneath his eyes. His face rested in a halfway scowl, and his gripped a sword that was slung over his right shoulder.

The other person was a blonde, definitely early twenties. A top hat rested atop his wavy hair, a gruesome burn scarring his face. His eyes were alive with quiet curiosity.

"Brook," The dark one repeated, "What happened? Are you injured?" The two of them hurried closer.

At a loss for understanding, I said the first thing I could manage.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

* * *

 **WHALE HELLO THERE.**

 **Sorry for being such a slow writer (cringes internally), but I still got it done, so! Till next time!**


	6. Do I Know You?

_Brook's POV_

"What are you talking about Brook?" The man narrowed his eyes in concern. "Do you not remember me?"

"Remember you? Have we met?"

"Okay, so that's a no," his scowl deepened.

"Can you get head trauma if you don't physically have a brain?" The blonde asked the other in a hushed tone, slightly incredulous.

The other ignored him, deep in thought. I could practically see the cogs turning in his head, so I took the opportunity to take a closer look.

I was being analyzed by a pair of fierce gray eyes. His skin was a light golden brown, and he had the build of someone who knew their way around in a fight. He wore slim speckled pants, a black button down shirt, and a spotted white cap over his dark hair. This guy was not someone to be messed with.

Did I really know this man?

"Brook," he started calmly. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was lost in the Floridian Triangle."

He cursed under his breath.

I cocked my head to the side and continued studying this man who claimed to know me. He didn't seem to be lying, and memory loss would conveniently explain a lot about my current situation . . .

"So you don't remember any of it? Punk Hazard? Thousand Sunny? _Luffy?_ "

Something inside me twisted painfully.

"Luffy-san?" I murmured.

A sharp headache pounded on the inside of my skull. The name fit so easily on my tongue, and I _knew_ that that was something not meant to be forgotten. My legs almost gave out beneath me.

"Woah there," said the blonde, suddenly by my side steadying me by my shoulders before I could fall.

"Who is this Luffy?"

The two of them shared a look.

"He's your captain," came the answer after a moment of silence. "I wasn't there, but from what I heard, he found you in the triangle two years ago."

" _Two years?_ How much have I forgotten? Why am I even here?"

"The crew was ambushed," the scowling man started. "This is the rescue mission. You're the first one we've found."

I didn't know how to digest all of this information. I had escaped the triangle, and gained a home. A family.

 _And I could remember none of it._

"Not that I think you are, but how do I know you're not lying?"

The blonde reached around over the back of his shoulder and brought out a deep purple cane.

My shikomizue, Soul Solid.

"I believe," said the blonde, "that this is yours."

I nodded, and accepted the sword without a word. After a moment, he trailed on.

". . . And I suppose that I should introduce myself. The name's Sabo," he said with a half smile, tipping his top hat. "Luffy's my little brother. This guy right here is Trafalgar Law. He's an ally of your crew." Law nodded.

At that point, joining the rescue mission wasn't really a question. I found it hard to believe the amount of trust I was already willing to put into these people, but it was a trust that came naturally.

The three of us headed into the shadowy hallways.

 _Just what kind of people,_ I pondered, _would I be so willing to return into darkness for?_

* * *

 _Soldier's POV_

Once again I managed to find myself hiding in the shadowed halls, crouched down in desperate hopes that those passing by would not discover my presence. I had ducked into the hall perpendicular to the main one the second I heard a sound.

It couldn't have been more than three pairs of footsteps. They were light, swift. Thinking back to the way I nervously scurried through the facility, it hit me that these people weren't supposed to be here -and when they passed the mouth of my hallway, I understood why.

Dead Bones Brook, the Surgeon of Death, and the Second in Command of the Revolutionary Army.

My heart crawled into my throat. I ran my clammy palms through my hair as I closed my eyes and rested my head against the cold wall behind me.

This was my chance to _do_ something. Those kids may have been the Strawhat Pirates, but they were still kids. I didn't _want_ to know why they were screaming.

With the mentality that it was now or never, I was up and running. Before I could loose them (but mostly before rational thought could catch up to my actions), I was flying around the corner.

I realized that this may not have been the brightest idea after coming to an abrupt stop before I could impale myself on the nodachi pointed my way.

Trafalgar Law held his sword to my neck, and I struggled not to panic.

"Who are you?" demanded the pirate.

I raised my palms skywards in a gesture of surrender, and fought to keep my voice from stuttering. I swallowed to avoid choking on my words.

"You're looking for the S-Strawhats, yes?" I murmured, cold sweat dripping down the side of my face. "I know where they are, let me help you. _Please_."

His steely eyes bore into mine, trying to detect a lie within my words. The surgeon's eyes drifted downwards, taking note of my lack of weapon. He considered his options.

He nodded, and slowly lowered his sword.

I led the way.

* * *

 _Zoro POV_

The room was white, and everything hurt.

Those were the first things I noticed when coming to, my body weighed down by an impossible amount of exhaustion.

I was somewhere inbetween awake and asleep, so I cant say that I was all that concerned about my predicament. Drowsy thoughts and questions drifted through my head as I lackadaisically contemplated the spotless ceiling. I dozed off.

I awoke a second time to a soft nudging at my side. I still wanted to sleep for another five years, so I tried to ignore it.

The nudging persisted to the point where I was awake enough to form rational thoughts. And, as one would know, rationality likes to drag stress and self preservation instincts to the party as well.

 _Where am I?_

A shock of panic shot down my spine as I sat up quickly.

I regretted this decision almost instantly. My chest felt like it was being ripped in half, searing pain seeping through my skin. A quick glance down at my red-stained shirt told me I wasn't too far off.

"What are yOU DOING?"

Two small hooves were at my left shoulder trying to gently push me back down. Slightly woozy from the pain, I complied.

"Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?" A small, flustered voice frantically vented. "Stay down, let me treat you."

Hooves? I spared a lazy glance at my "doctor", only to find that the hooves belonged to a fuzzy brown racoon-dog looking animal. What was this? Some kind of a pain induced hallucination?

Curiosity got the better of me.

"Are you a tanuki?"

"Do you noT SEE THESE ANTLERS? I'M A REINDEER!" wailed the reindeer. "AND STOP MOVING, I'M TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING." Expressed the animal, clearly distressed.

I let him do his work, impressed by how he seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Many stitches and bandages later, I was propped up against the back wall next to a sleeping orange haired girl. As she slept, the reindeer worked on bandaging her injured shoulder.

"So, how exactly does a reindeer become such a good doctor?"

The doctor blushed, and began doing some sort of a cute wiggle dance.

"Idiot! Complementing me like that doesn't make me happy you know!" gushed the little reindeer.

Somehow I doubted that.

"What's your name? Do you have one?" I ventured.

"Chopper!"

"Zoro," I nodded.

"So Zoro, how did you manage to get that giant gash on your chest?" Chopper asked, continuing to clean the girl's shoulder.

"Valid question. I don't actually know myself," I said, frowning down at my heavily bandaged chest. It bothered me, why coudn't I remember? "More importantly, do you know where we are? Why we're here?"

Chopper paused, and let his shoulders sink.

"No idea. I was hoping you might know something," he said, glancing at the door. "We've been locked in here for at least a day, but it could've been longer since we were all unconscious when we were put in here."

I hummed in agreement, taking in more of my surroundings. The room was brightly lit and about the size of an average bedroom. The door looked very sturdy, so I doubted that we would be able to break it down. The three of us were all dressed in loose white T-shirts and shorts.

Three of us. . .

"Do you know who she is?" I asked, looking at the unconscious girl with the tangerine colored hair. I would guess that she was around ten or eleven.

"I'm not sure. She was awake for a bit before, but she was pretty freaked out. I woke up to her screaming and pounding on the door. I was too scared to do anything." Chopper answered looking sheepish. "She passed out again later."

Nami, as I learned her name to be later on, woke up a few hours later. A conversation similar to the one I had with Copper ensued.

And, well, that's pretty much how every thing went. The three of us versus the white room. Chopper and Nami, they weren't half bad.

Given that we had a lot of time on our hands, we talked.

It started with bouncing ideas off of each other of why anyone would want to kidnap three random kids.

Soon enough, we were swapping stories. I listened to Chopper talk about his time with a man known by Doctor Hiluluk after being rejected by his own kind. I listened though Chopper's tears when he told us about the death of a great man, and _why_ exactly this reindeer became a doctor.

Nami eventually shared the story of her mother and sister, and how the arrival of the Arlong Pirates at Cocoyashi tore her life apart.

It felt like I had know them for years.

However, that also happened to make it a lot harder to watch when one of them would be dragged away to be drugged or interrogated or whatever they did to us. This would happen from time to time, where two of us would have to watch helplessly as our friend was taken to who knows where. None of us could remember a thing by the time we were returned to our cell.

I was thrown into a wall the first time they took Nami, and managed to reopen the wound on my chest.

One day- can't be sure how long we'd been there, the lights never turned off- a man unlike the others came into the room. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting him to nervously ask for my name. Weirdo.

The monotonous cycle of spacing out looking at the blank walls while thinking about something new to talk about was broken in the strangest possible way.

A skeleton burst into the room.

* * *

 **Would you look at that, an update!**

 **Haha, sorry the wait was longer than usual. Finals happened.**

 **Have a nice day. ;)**


	7. We're Forgetting Something

_Zoro's POV_

A skeleton. A SKELETON. Can you grasp how _insane_ this was?

Chopper buried himself in my side and Nami scrambled backwards. Shock jolted through my veins as I gaped at the impossible situation.

The nine foot tall skeleton carrying a sword was definitely an unusual sight, but not just because it was a reanimated corpse. After getting past the more frightful bits of its appearance -the lack of skin, the empty sockets for eyes, the lightning like crack carved into its skull to name a few- you were bombarded by color.

It wore a vivid pink polka-dotted long-sleeved collared shirt and striped pants. A blue beaded necklace hung from its neck, and a top-hat rested atop the skeleton's afro. It was a stark contrast to the surrounding achromatic walls. Never had I encountered such a wild fashion sense.

"Oh my Oda- _Brook, put that away!_ " Panicked a voice.

Three more bodies (alive) had briskly followed the skeleton into the colorless prison. One of those people- the blonde one with the top-hat and overcoat- was having a small-scale frenzied panic, flailing as he tried to get the skeleton to put the sword away.

Said skeleton- Brook he said?- sheathed his sword.

The lack of swords being pointed at us was nice, but it didn't really diffuse the tense situation.

"This is so messed up," Vented the blonde. He paced as he ran a hand through his hair, his eyes wide and incredulous.

Besides him and his top-hat buddy skeleton, there were two others. One was an intimidating guy with dark hair, olive skin, and a perplexed frown etched into his face. The last of the intruders looked as if he were trying to blend into the wall, and- wait, was that the guy who asked for my name? I narrowed my eyes. The heck?

"You!" Nami exclaimed, pointed at the soldier.

"Yep," Replied his shaky voice, shrinking under her gaze.

"Okay, okay," The blonde man interrupted, "There's a lot to explain, so it'd be best if we could do it all at once."

He turned to the soldier. "You said that you didn't know a lot about what's going on here, but do you know where the others are?"

The soldier nodded nervously. "There are three more in the next room over. The cyborg's at the end of the hall, but I don't think that they've messed with him though."

"Law, are they within a close enough distance to bring them here?"

The dark haired man nodded.

" _Room."_

A transparent blue sphere enveloped Law, and phased through me before sinking into the walls as it expanded.

In the time that it took to blink, four more bodies blipped into the room.

My eye was pulled to the man who I assumed the soldier referred to as 'cyborg', if the giant mechanical parts welded to his body were anything to go by. He was unconscious.

The three very alarmed kids who had also arrived, however, were not.

A boy- dark curly hair, ridiculously long nose, _definitely_ freaking out- scrambled to his feet in a panic and opened his mouth to start yelling.

"WOAH OKAY- hold on, calm down Usopp," Urgently spoke the blond in a hushed tone. His hands were holding the boy's trembling shoulders. "I know you're scared, I know you're scared. So am I, just give me a second to explain."

He turned to me, and looked me in the eye.

"Zoro."

I didn't look away.

"Nami."

She blinked.

"Chopper."

He snuggled further into my shirt.

"Sanji."

The thin blonde boy raised his head.

"Robin."

She continued staring at a random point in space.

"Usopp."

The long-nosed boy on front of him flinched.

"This is going to sound crazy, but- oh man, how do I even say this?"

"Your ages have been reversed." Said Law abruptly.

Which, of course, nobody really believed.

"I'm sorry, but what?" Nami sputtered. "That's insane!"

"You're- what? Eight? Nine? Last time I saw you you were 20."

The man leaned back against the wall, unconcerned.

"You understand why we'd find this hard to believe, right?" I challenged.

Law raised his eyebrows, completely undaunted.

"You're telling me that you're not least bit curious about your left eye, Zoro?"

The room fell quiet.

I sent a glare back his way, and self-consciously brought a hand to the scar over my eye.

The missing eye was one of most ominous parts of this mess. It had been a nasty shock, and weirdly enough, one I didn't even notice for hours till Chopper had asked about it. There was a scar where my eye had been. My eye? Just _gone._

"Ah, wait. This might help."

Eyes turned to the soldier when he started digging through the pockets of his uniform, pulling out a folded and crumpled newspaper. He carefully walked over, knelt down, and handed it to me.

"Look at the date."

I did. Rubbed my eye. Looked again.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What? What is it?" Asked Nami, taking the paper from my hands. Chopper and Usopp crowded her, stealing peeks with wide, unbelieving eyes as well.

After a moment, Usopp stood up to face the four adults.

"So let's say we believe you, what then? Who are you? Why are you even here? You said you'd explain."

"I did, didn't I," The blonde man responded gently. "My name's Sabo, you don't know me yet. You guys are part of my younger brother's pirate crew, and this is a rescue mission."

Now Nami was on her feet, her arms crossed.

" _Pirate crew?_ " She spat. "Nuh uh, no way."

"We don't have time for this." Interjected Law.

"I don't care! I refuse to go _anywhere_ with you maniacs!"

"Nami," I said struggling to my feet. "Let's at least hear them out. You don't want to stay here, do you you?"

After a moment, she let out an angry huff, and reluctantly uncrossed her arms.

"Fine."

"That's Law, he's an ally of your crew. This right here is Brook," Sabo continued, pointing to the skeleton. "He's your crew's musician."

"Musician?"

"Story for another time. We _really_ need to get going." Answered Sabo with a nervous glace to the door. "Have any of you seen another kid? Black hair?"

"Did he have a scar under his eye?" Spoke Robin for the fist time, her voice soft.

All eyes turned to the enigmatic girl.

"Yes. He does," Nodded Sabo, "Do you know where he is?"

A moment passed.

"I saw him when I wan in their infirmary. I don't know where he is now."

Sabo adopted a worried expression. "Infirmary? Was he okay?"

She shook her head, but offered no other information.

"Okay," He continued, eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Let's get going. Law, can you take care of Franky? I'll get Sanji."

Slowly, carefully, he lifted Sanji onto his back, and draped his arms over his shoulders. If the blonde boy had a problem with it, I couldn't tell. The frail boy looked too exhausted to protest.

"Zoro, can you walk?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Great. You guys ready?"

Law, using what I assumed to be his devil fruit, did the "room" thing again to transport the cyan headed cyborg into the hall, and levitated the mechanical man from there.

I scooped Chopper into my arms, and followed Sabo, Sanji, and the soldier out into the hallway. Usopp and Nami, were close behind. Robin and Brook brought up the rear.

The hallway was dim, and I was bombarded by the potent smell of anesthetics. I had to stop and let my eyes adjust to the low light. It was a massive change from the days spent in the white room. The only other times I'd seen this involved guards, drugs, and pain.

All in all, a welcome change.

The only sounds that were heard as we wandered the maze were the soft patter of our footsteps. Up until Brook spoke, that is.

"Um, Sabo-san? I think we have a problem."

I whirled around. "Problem" couldn't mean anything good.

Another soldier stood at the end of the hal1, and not the one that was supposedly on our side.

Which _sucked._

The man started yelling down the hallway to his right, calling for backup.

"WE NEED REINFORCEMENTS!" Boomed his voice, the sense of urgency clear in his tone. "THE STRAWHATS ARE ESCAPING!"

Guns were loaded. The clatter of heavy footsteps began to crescendo, which didn't do good things for my stress levels.

And then Sabo was by my side.

"Get behind me."

Fire.

A wall of fire erupted from Sabo's hands, setting the hallway was ablaze. And I was shielding Chopper and we were running and the heat was pressing against my back and my shadow was dancing in glow from the fire and the soldiers were _screaming_ and oh man _these guys were strong_.

The hallways stretched on, and no matterthe _sheer amount_ of people Sabo burned or Law dismembered there were always more to replace them.

My legs and back ached from sleeping on the hard floor these days past, and I was pretty sure that my chest wound wasn't supposed to be hurting as much as it was. I kept running.

We made it outside. The stars were out and I could _breathe,_ but I couldn't move.

I was forgetting something.

" _Zoro! What are you doing?! We need to go!_ "

"We're forgetting someone." I mumbled, my mind sluggish.

 _What was I forgetting? What was I forgetting?WhAT WAS I FORGETTING?_

Sabo was gripping my shoulders and yelling and _you're bleeding too much_ and _I don't want to leave Luffy anymore than you do_ and my shirt was warm and wet and sticky with blood and-

 _Luffy._

The name made my hairs stand on end.

I faded to black.

* * *

 _Doctor Degrade's POV_

"So you're telling me," I asked with a steely voice,"that they just waltzed in here and took them?"

"Yes, sir. Trafalgar Law, the Commander in Chief of the Revolutionaries, and one of our own."

Did this news bother me?

Yes, very much so.

At my soldiers for their incompetence?

Sure.

At the traitor?

Of course.

At the wasted opportunity of demolishing the Strawhat Pirates?

Absolutely.

But was I actually, legitimately _angry?_

 _I was ecstatic._

I was sitting across from Monkey D. Luffy, one of the most peculiar people I had ever encountered in all my years of living. This was a man who had lived more in 19 years than most do in 80, a man notorious around the world for both his strength and insanity. He was a catalyst, the world changed in the wake of his footsteps. He was simultaneously simplistic and complex, and I'd never met anyone like him.

Never had I wanted to tear someone open to see how they tick so _badly_ before.

You see, studying the human mind has been a fascination of mine for decades now. I've always found it intriguing how easily a person could bend and break. People are much more fragile than one would think.

I work with the tools of fear and pain.

With the right combination of trauma, drugs, and sleep deprivation, people are _bowing_ to my will.

Sensory impoverishment.

Restraints from emotion.

Post hypnotic suggestion becomes child's play.

I reduce them to a shadow of who they used to be.

From there?

I rebuild them, 'reprogram' them if you will.

Children were always the most interesting for me to work with, which was where my devil fruit came into play. Age manipulation. Pressing the reset button on someone's life. Change them enough and they won't return to the person they used to be.

"- and we're still focusing on putting out the rest of the fires, but the injured have all been tended to. Should we deploy a squadron to track the Strawhats?"

"Hmm? Oh no, don't bother," I said with a vague wave of my hand.

I returned my attention to the sobbing seven-year-old child on front me, calling out for a brother he doesn't yet know is dead.

"They'll come back for their captain."

* * *

 **Hope that was cliff-hanger-y enough for you.**

 **And hello! Thanks for stopping by!**

 **Feel free to review, I like hearing from you guys, even if it's just a little. (wink wink, nudge nudge)**

 **Annnnd, yeah. . .**

 **Till next time. ;)**


	8. To Trust

_Ex-Soldier's POV_

It was a cloudless night, and the stars were out. The ocean carried a breeze was just cold enough to chill me through my useless jacket. I rubbed my arms in futile attempt to stop my shivering. The gentle waves against the side of the ship was the only sound to be heard.

I stood outside near the grassy helm of the the pirate ship, trying to sort myself out.

The revolutionary guy- Sabo, he'd said- stood silently about five feet away, leaning against the railing of _The Thousand Sunny._ He had been looking out into the murky waters for a while, posture rigid. It was hard to be sure with the dark, but it looked like the wooden railing had splintered under the grip of his hands.

Leaving behind his brother was weighing down his mind, which I had found to be a somewhat strange thing.

This man, this daunting and intimidating and brutal man, known for his tide-turning strength, was scared for his little brother. It added such a human element someone I'd only know as an international criminal.

It felt odd that this was the same guy I saw giving people burn scars to last them three lifetimes a few hours ago.

And I had helped.

Merely _hours ago,_ I assisted the escape of world class pirates.

Hours ago, I had made a decision that would probably get my family shot.

I mean, yeah. The second thoughts were relentless. They nagged at the back if my head, begging to be heard, but I still couldn't find it in me to feel actual _regret._ Somehow, for what ever reason, I still felt justified. I still felt that what I did was the right thing to do.

A door opened somewhere behind me, and out came the stone-faced Trafalgar Law. I jumped.

"They're asleep and very unlikely to bleed out within the next few hours."

The statement ended the calm atmosphere that had settled over the ship.

"Where should we go from here?" Questioned Sabo, still staring out at the water.

"Not sure, depends on whether or not they'll pursue us."

"I doubt they will, they still have Luffy," Stated Sabo bitterly, "They'll know we'll come back."

"Either way, we still need to find somewhere to lay low for a bit while we figure out how to get Strawhat back. They'll be expecting us next time. We also need to do something with the rest of them. We can't bring a bunch of kids with us."

"Which islands are nearby? Do you know where their maps are?"

As they got into the details of what they planned to do next, I sank back into my thoughts.

Pirates. These were pirates, I reminded myself.

Shouldn't they be double-crossing, bloodthirsty lunatics following their selfish whims?

Instead, they gave me salvation. They took me with them, and trusted me despite the circumstances. They haven't harmed in any way.

I can't trust them, another part of me argued. I've seen what they can do. The world is afraid of them for a reason, right?

And what if the rumors about the Strawhats are true? My sister-in-law was caught up in that whole Dressrosa disaster. We forgot about her for an entire two years, and Strawhat Luffy was the one that set her free from that. Am supposed to just ignore that?

"I- I think I know where we can go." I blurted out. Sabo and Law looked up from their map as I slipped off my left shoe and pulled a vivre card. "I have a house out on the countryside. The island is kinda backwater, and it's roughly more than a day and a half trip from the facility."

"That could work. . ."

"Who does the vivre card belong to?" asked Law bluntly.

"M-My wife," I said, feeling heat rise to my face.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Asked the revolutionary, putting a hand on my shoulder. "We don't want to endanger your family."

"I see nothing wrong with someone trying to help their family," I answered resolutely.

"Thank you."

"Besides," I said, scratching the back of my head nervously, "It's a bit to late to- OKAY WHAT IS THAT?"

I shrieked and pointed at the human eye watching us from the wooden wall about a stone's throw from where we stood. It blinked, then disappeared in a flurry of blush colored flower petals.

"Ah, that must be Robin. I'll go talk to her." Replied Sabo, as if eyes growing out of walls was the most natural thing ever. "You guys can take care of this right?"

* * *

 _Robin's POV_

I was lying on my back and staring at the ceiling through the dark. It was quiet enough to listen to the breathing of the others, and calm enough to easily slip into sleep.

But then again, quiet and calm didn't equate to safe.

I heard creaking from the wooden floorboards in the hallway, and the silhouette of the blonde man appeared in the doorway.

"Robin," He whispered, gesturing to follow him.

These were some peculiar people, and I had very little reason to trust them. I had no idea who they were, what they wanted, or how I even ended up the situation I was in. I hated not knowing so much.

Despite all that, I felt tugs in my heart that I'd been ignoring for a long time now. It was almost as if I _wanted_ to trust them. I couldn't afford to make mistakes like that.

I followed him.

He led me to the kitchen, and had me sit down on a stool next to the counter while he made some hot cocoa. Reluctantly, I sat.

After a few minutes of him puttering around, I had a mug of cocoa warming my hands. It smelled richly of chocolate from the West Blue. I suppressed a wave of nostalgia as I was reminded of days at the library in the late winter. Revolutionary-kun sat next to me after setting his top-hat down on the counter, enjoying a cup of his own.

"How are you feeling, Robin? Is your shoulder hurting right now?"

I shrugged noncommittally, not making eye contact. This didn't seem to bother him.

"You might want to actually try some of that," He said, referring to the drink. "After all, your the one that told me the recipe."

"You knew me?"

"I _know_ you."

"You'd be surprised at how many people have been wrong when they said that," I replied coldly.

"I promise you that I'm not one of them."

"Isn't that what they all think?"

He didn't respond to that for a minute or so.

"We met after the crew was separated by one of the seven warlords," began the man. "I'm the second in command of the revolutionaries, you see? We found you enslaved on Tequila Wolf. Everyone needed time to get stronger, so you stayed with us for the two years."

"Is that supposed to make me trust you?" I insisted, cutting him off.

It hit me then that I probably shouldn't try to make to make this guy angry. I'd seen how strong he was, and he obviously had no qualms with giving people scars. Emphasizing that I didn't trust them would just make it harder to escape later.

His insistence that he knew me made me angry. It never bothered me with the many that came before him, but his _persistence._ His flat out refusal got on my nerves. How dare he insinuate that-

"You told me about Ohara."

My lungs turned to ice.

"You told me about the Tree of Knowledge and how the government ordered a buster call when they discovered the poneglyphs. You told me about how you waited years to see your mother, then met her and lost her in the same day. You said that for the longest time you thought that the last people you could trust died on that island." His voice was hushed, and his eyes held a soft, solemn sincerity in the softly lit room.

I thought that I had run out of tears for what happened then, but the burning at the edges of my eyes proved me wrong.

"You told me about a man named Saul, and that he said that one day you would find friends that would never leave you."

I choked back a sob unsuccessfully.

"Robin, you told me that _you found them."_

Sabo wrapped his arms around me as I cried, and I let him.

I felt safe.

* * *

 **Suddenly, a wild chapter appears!**

 **While I doubt any of you out there are particularly** _ **anxious**_ **for updates, I still feel bad for taking so long. Thanks for being patient. ;)**

 **I had a dream with Ace in it that got me to stop procrastinating, haha. He's oddly motivating.**

 **Anyways, till next time, whenever that may be.**

 **Hasta la pasta!**


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